Infusion AND Sparge

Ward Chillington

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Ok, I'm looking to brew a blonde ale for drinking later this summer so I'm looking at a recipe that calls for both infusion AND sparge in the mash.Maybe it's the second glass of wine, but I'm having a tough time grasping what that process is. Can ya help a fellow brewer out?
PS..
Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde is the recipe
 
Can you provide the mash schedule? I suspect it's a nomenclature issue: The infusion is simply addition of water, either at the start or to change the mash temperature. The sparge is a rinse of the grains after the conversion portion of the mash is over. Does that help?
 
That's a great recipe- I've made it myself several times. You'll enjoy it for sure,

I'm not sure where you got the instructions for sparging during the mash(?) because there isn't such a thing. If you could post what you are seeing, that would help us help you out.
 
Infusion is an addition of (boiling) water to mash in order to raise the temp in a step mash. Sparge is trickling water (~168-170 degrees) though the grain bed as it drains to collect wort. Two completely different processes.
 
J A exactly! "
Two completely different processes.
Hence my confusion. I think I'm have a duh moment... There's no instructions other than the those 2 lines as part of the schedule..are they saying to mash with this much strike water for an hour than sparge for only 10 minutes? Seems pretty darn fast rinse !

Mash Guidelines
Amount Description Type Temp Time
10.94 qt Mash-In @ 162 for 60m Infusion 150 F 60 min
17.5 qt Batch Sparge @ 168 Sparge 168 F 10 min
 
the 10 minute sparge is a batch sparge, you don't have to brew like the instructions on any recipe or kit just brew the way you normally would
 
Yep. It's a single-infusion, batch sparged beer. Times and volumes look about right - no need to overdo the batch sparging. Sometimes I go 15 minutes but 10 is adequate.
 
Wow..10 minutes. Seems really fast given the other sparings I've been doing are about an hour long.
Thanks for the lessons guys!
W
 
Remember it's a batch sparge: Dump the water in, stir it up, let it sit the ten minutes, then recirculate and drain.
 
Wow..10 minutes. Seems really fast given the other sparings I've been doing are about an hour long.
So if you're familiar with the sparging process in general, I guess I don't understand your question.
As for specific instructions, they're usually equipment-specific and you should adjust volumes and times to suit your particular set-up. I fly sparge every batch as slowly as possible using at least a third or more of the total liquor volume but if I shared a recipe with notes about my process, you wouldn't necessarily be able to duplicate it.
Mash step temperatures, time and, to some extent, mash thickness at each step will be big contributors to the character of the wort. Sparge will mostly determine overall efficiency since conversion should be completed before sparging takes place.
Good luck. ;)
 
The instructions are for a batch sparge. You drain the mash and add all the sparge water at once, wait 10 min and drain. It is a lot faster than fly sparing which it sounds like you are used to. Fly sparge is when you trickle the sparge water over the grains as you drain it. Takes longer, but usually gets a few points higher gravity.
 
Yes, I'm fly sparging in a converted cooler with a sparge arm that's part of the lid that takes about 45 minutes to wash the batch.
As I read this again, I'm just going to brew as normal and I think that my confusion was in the way this recipe was written down and presented but that's on me. Thanks for all the help guys.
W
 

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